How long have we been talking about hybrid cloud? By my count it’s been seven years. The NIST definition of hybrid cloud is only four years old, but the limitations of working with only one cloud model has been apparent since the beginning. Cloud puts usage levels and characteristics in the hands of users by definition, but that also means it increases both capacity needs and governance and control needs simultaneously. This tension can only be resolved with a hybrid model.

Making it to hybrid cloud has turned out to be a bumpier journey than we expected, however. Hybrid’s potential can hardly be understated, as IT well knows. Still, Dell’s newly released wave of its Global Technology Adoption Index study of midmarket firms shows that adoption has slowed or even declined. In the 2014 study, 38% of respondents reported the use of hybrid cloud at their organizations, while this year it remains at (a statistically tied) 35%.

As it turns out, though hybrid delivers the benefits of both off- and on-premises cloud, it also engenders the risks of both—while adding a third. Control issues inherent from public cloud use combine with the cost risks of private cloud, and in addition, hybrid is perceived as complex to deploy and maintain. These perceived barriers have made it increasingly difficult for customers to take the next step they both need and want to take.

We at Dell are particularly proud to have heard our customers’ pains and, in partnership with Microsoft, responded with a solution.

Introducing the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft

Today at Dell World we announced the immediate availability of the Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft. Featuring a unique combination of Dell-optimized modular infrastructure, a completely new and innovative Scale Ready Payment program, and industry-leading management and maintenance capabilities, we designed this solution to crush each of the hybrid cloud adoption barriers and speed customers to value in a radically simplified way with almost no risk.

The industry’s first and only integrated system validated with Microsoft Cloud Platform System Standard, this Dell Hybrid Cloud System features:

Super simplification: Complexity-crushing automated deployment that gets you “from crate to cloud” in less than three hours, and automated and unified system updates that are non-disruptive, dependency-aware, and minimize downtime

No-brainer financing: Cost-risk-crushing Cloud Flex Pay, a new program in our Scale Ready Payment Solutions portfolio designed to address how uncertain it can be to predict usage levels and value return of the cloud platforms you create

The cream of cloud management: Chaos-crushing Dell Cloud Manager, integrated out of the box so now you can flexibly govern access, consumption, service deployment, and more across Windows Azure Pack, Azure Cloud, and other cloud services

The Dell Hybrid Cloud System supports deployments of approximately 100-400 virtual machines per physical stamp, and it is fully scalable “out,” allowing you to run multiple stamps to expand capacity as your needs grow. The on-site software configuration process gives you core functionality running in less than three hours and getting full hybrid cloud enabled typically takes less than a full work day.

Horses under the hood

Powered by Microsoft® Windows® Server 2012 R2, System Center® 2012 R2 and Windows Azure Pack, the system is delivered assembled, pre-staged, and pre-configured from the Dell factory. Compute is powered by the latest-generation Dell PowerEdge C6320 rack server—a serious workhorse that delivers optimized performance and density with 4 server modes mounted in a single 2U shared infrastructure chassis.

Storage is implemented with Microsoft Storage Spaces and offers multiple HDD and SSD drive options to fine tune any of the configurations. With all this flexibility you can be sure to match your storage needs to your workload requirements.

System updates are compiled, validation-tested, and packaged into a single update. Updates integrate dependency awareness and are smart-sequenced with automated deployment, improving your uptime and reducing the likelihood of service outage.

Cloud control and management out of the box

We have the best toolset available in Dell Cloud Manager, the industry’s only solution that provides a single integrated control point for management of private and public clouds with Windows Azure Pack and Azure cloud.

It comes integrated into the system, ready for immediate use. Now, at your own pace, you have new opportunities to survey and capture cloud usage, gain visibility into activities and costs across multiple clouds, and set the stage to non-disruptively reassert governance of shadow IT.

Solving for unpredictability—with financing

Our Scale Ready Payment Solutions portfolio already gives you multiple options to get the right cost model for the Dell Hybrid Cloud System. But today we also announced a new payment option just for this hybrid cloud offering: Cloud Flex Pay, which allows you to deploy the system and pay only a monthly charge for the first six months. At the end of this period you can opt for a further six months at reduced charge; purchase the solution outright; finance it; or simply return the system back to Dell. Talk about risk reduction! Get it, try it, use it, and if it’s not right, return it.

See for yourself!

If you are attending Dell World in person please stop by the Dell Cloud pavilion in the expo hall and experience Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft live and in action.